By Francine Elizabeth Natal
When you take an up-close and personal view behind the scenes of a Ron Wilch Fashion Show you will discover Julie Wilch “The modest, platinum organizer’.”
Wilch does not shout out verbal directives, nor does she emphatically render gestures or hand signals- like a referee at a sports game. Wilch is a
personable overseer; she diligently demonstrates one-on-one mentoring and coaching to her support team and the models.
Her preference is to be soft spoken but stern; Wilch strategically stands with the group or an individual, providing them with support and visual guides to
help acclimate them on what they need to do. She asserts diligence via cues i.e. verbal directives, visual note postings (reminders) and (body language)
bold eye signals with hand gestures, providing hands on instruction in a kind and gentle manner- that’s Julie’s way.
Wilch is well aware that in Fashion, last minute changes may occur; Julie “the personable overseer” is diligent, guiding the team with- positive
reinforcement- informing them when things are going well and or if time is of the essence and she may need to assert necessary changes. Julie is not rigid,
she operates like a pro; she affirms that you must be flexible, sometimes you will stick to the original plan but at other times Plan B becomes the Agenda.
Julie Wilch is the “Queen Mother” behind the scenes, her seasoned wit, whim, influence, poise and charm, constitute a lasting impression. Overall, Wilch
promotes positive energy that in turn does merit good success in every Ron Wilch Fashion Show. Wilch does not go to the extreme to exhibit a profile of
elegance. Her flair of elegance is to “accessorize and glamorize” in moderation, dressed in Black with a touch of White and a splash of Silver accessories,
“less is more”.
SUN: What was the inspiration for the Fashion show today and what specifically you thought was highly significant to display through the fashion in
support of the cause?
JULIE WILCH: We were asked several months ago by Anita Connor of Anita T. Associates to get together a fashion presentation. This is her eighth year;
every year Anita Connor has done “Praise is the cure”, it’s all about bringing together breast cancer Survivors, patients and their families, it’s
actually a whole week long event- today is the last day (Oct. 5th, 2013). In terms of some things you might see in the show or inspirations we do have
a couple of splashes of pink in there; we tried to make sure we represented everyone in terms of body type, we do have models up to size 16 and we have
male models too, we tried to represent a variety of types.
SUN: Outstanding! What would you say the Main Attraction would be of the Show?
JULIE WILCH: I can tell you that in years past the Full Figured Models get a lot of praise and the Men of course are always a delight for the audience.
All of our designers are really great, they’re all local designers, very talented and I think there will be something for everyone.
SUN: Great, wonderful! Would you say that this is one of your most favorite events to do each year, or as often as it does occur?
JULIE WILCH: This year is our 2nd year of doing this for Anita and I would say this is a great cause- breast cancer awareness- particularly for African
American women and that’s what she focuses on because many African American women don’t have the means to get their annual exams as they should and she
provides that for them i.e. she has a mammogram mobile that comes through. It’s a great cause, it gets the word out there, it gets the community
involved and we just enjoy that aspect, giving back to the community.
SUN: Julie, what would you like to wrap up this interview with saying? What would you like to be the “cliff hanger”, in reference to your artistry and
what you do “behind the scenes” i.e. how you bring everything together to make the show as excellent as it always turns out to be?
JULIE WILCH: Diverting from myself for a moment, my husband has something in the works called Philadelphia Fashion Expo 2014 and he’s really trying to
bring the designer community together with manufacturers, often times that’s the missing piece, “where do I as a designer go to get my things
manufactured?” So, that’s always great. We’ve been doing Fashion Shows for quite some time, we enjoy doing it and we hope to continue.
SUN: Any future projects in the works for you specifically?
JULIE WILCH: For me specifically . . . it’s going to be assisting my husband Ron Wilch with Philly Fashion Expo 2014- back stage production: getting
the models together, the designers, the music, all that production type stuff.
SUN: Do you have a nickname or at least a “pen name” that everybody calls you?
JULIE WILCH: Not at all (laughter), sorry.
SUN: Okay, so it’s Mrs. Julie Wilch- all the way?
JULIE WILCH: Yes, there you go.
SUN: Julie Wilch, thank you so much for your time and I am honored to have done this interview.
JULIE WILCH: Thank you Francine.
SUN: You are most welcome.
*The Overall agenda of Philly Fashion 2014 is “Education and Fashion demonstration” and to promote Boys to Bosses the 2014 Fashion Expo charity
organization.” The dates of Philly Fashion Expo 2014 are Friday February 21, 2014, Day time event 10am to 3pm: Product Demonstration, Workshops, Live Music
and Fashion show Tickets Price $15 (student ID $10). Evening event 7pm to 11pm: Red Carpet, Live concert, Product Demonstration, Food & Wine tasting,
Designer Fashion show Tickets Price $50. For more details and to purchase your tickets in advance visit the following link:
http://www.phillyfashionexpo.com/philly-fashion-expo/
You will have the chance to promote your business, while helping young men in urban Philadelphia for business development and job placement and celebrate
the rich culture history of America during Black History Month with your sponsorship support. Sponsorship Levels: $50K – $20K – $10K – $5K (packages
available), for contact call Office 267-586-5192, Philly Fashion Lab, 6639 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, Pa 19144. For more about the Boys to Bosses charity
organization visit online: http://www.phillyfashionexpo.com/boys-to-bosses/.
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